Some Shade of Blue
by Drded24
Summary: A down-on-his-luck hunter makes an eventful trip to the Arathi Highlands.I know it's a lousy excuse, but I'm not the best at summaries. I'm going to rate this T and maybe M later. Please R&R, constructive criticism accepted and all that.Enjoy! First FF.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi. This is my first fan fiction, as stated in the summary. I don't own anything from Warcraft. **

**All that good stuff. If you have any questions, then just post them in a review. I'll do my best to answer them, which hopefully won't be too hard as I don't expect to get many (if any) reviews **

**in the first couple chapters or so. But, again, anything you want to know, I will try to answer at the start of the next chapter.**

**All right, I'm gonna shut up and let you read it. Reviews are appreciated! Enjoy.**

"For crying out loud, you little cheat! I don't care if the thing's not selling, I just want it back! Is that too much to ask for?"

"Can't get it back. Yelling won't do anything."

Daniel turned away and ran a hand through his dark brown hair, trying to calm himself. Not that it was working. He seriously doubted that anything would, given the situation. His dream-come-true find had failed to yield anything at all, save for a load of frustration.

Maybe, just maybe, he would have been in a reasonable mood, if it wasn't for the little man who stood in front of him-more specifically, what he had to say, which turned out to be nothing. The gnome had failed to offer any details into the matter, simply stating that it was gone and that he couldn't get it back. He decided that maybe an attitude change would work.

"Okay, ummmm...Can I get anything at all from this? Anything at all?" Daniel asked the gnome, who had started to write something in a large book in front of him.

The gnome didn't bother to spare a glance when he answered.

"Probably not. Even if possible, might not like what you have to do."

Daniel heaved a long sigh. If there was anything to be done about the matter, the gnome wouldn't be of any help in the first place.

"All right, so I might as well leave?" Daniel asked, his sour mood returning.

"Guess so."

The gnome scribbled in his book for a moment longer, then moved out of the room.

Daniel gave the little man a final glance before going back into the wide open city again.

Daniel liked Ironforge. Sure, he liked Stormwind more, but he was a human. Of course he was proud of his race,but Ironforge just seemed a bit more welcoming to him. That was most likely due to the fact that Ironforge Inns had softer beds than Stormwind.

Daniel released another sigh, setting off towards the center of the city. Spending the day pouting wouldn't accomplish anything. Might as well get back to "work".

He didn't particularly like gryphon rides, mainly because he was deathly afraid of heights. The only reason he didn't fall off from fear was because he kept his eyes shut tightly for the duration of the flight. Plus, they were rather expensive, and at a time like this, he had to use his money sparingly.

Daniel dropped a few silver coins into the gryphon master's palm without saying a word. As much as he hated it, he took the trip to the Arathi Highlands and back quite often to find more valuables. Typically, he just sold the less valuable items to the merchants in the camp there, but returned to Ironforge to auction off some of the more shiny treasures he had found.

As he shuffled onto the half-eagle, half-lion, he felt a little uneasy as always. The creature was, quite obviously, in pretty bad shape. Hair was ruffled all along the top of it's back and neck, there were three parallel scratch marks across the side of its beak, and Daniel swore he saw a large scar going up over its eye that looked quite fresh. Still, he was fairly confident that it wouldn't drop from the sky at random.

Fairly confident.

Daniel kept his eyes open for as long as possible as the beast below him hefted its large wings into the air before throwing them downwards, propelling it to a low hover for a second before it jerked into motion.

The dwarves certainly had done a creative job of creating the entrance and exit for gryphons. The passages at ground level were to small for them, so the dwarves made a large opening high off the floor

for them to fly through. That fact had always made Daniel wonder how they did so anyway, even with ladders and whatnot. Magic, most likely. After he passed through the opening, he looked down at the crowd that was always present near the bank and auction house. Most of the figures were clad in elaborate armor and robes, moving around at brisk paces in between the two buildings. Several were mounted on various other creatures, one of the more noticeable being a man on what looked like a bear from Daniel's point of view.

Daniel closed his eyes as until he felt the cold temperature begin to dissipate. He was still over Dun Morogh, but on the outskirts that bordered the Wetlands. The gryphon continued to glide over the hills and mountains, not doing much else save for look downwards a few times. Soon, Daniel was in the Wetlands, staring down at the swamps that covered the majority of the landscape.

He gave a long yawn. Another thing that he didn't like about gryphon rides-sure, they may be faster than walking on foot, but that wasn't really saying much. Gryphon bodies didn't allow for much speed unless they were trained and whatnot, and that training was expensive and time-consuming-both for the gryphon and the rider.

He could now see the old, damaged bridges connecting the Wetlands to the Highlands. He really hated this part, as the Wetlands took a sudden drop down to lower than sea level. The gap continued all the length of the bridges, which was quite a long way. Daniel suspected that the more damaged bridge was blown up by the Dark Iron Dwarves, as he had dealt with them shortly before he came to the Highlands . They had used explosives when he was in the Wetlands as well, but he never had asked how it was actually destroyed.

A sudden burst of strong wind forced Daniel out of his thoughts as he crossed the gap. He closed his eyes again, waiting until he assumed he was over the gap, at which point he reopened his eyes. Sighing with relief, he let out another yawn.

His relief was short, however, as a loud noise from below him made his ears ring and momentarily stunned him. The gryphon jerked violently, and Daniel nearly fell off the side, scrambling to regain his balance. The creature had other plans, however, as it made another jerking movement to the side.

Which actually _did_ send Daniel off the beast.

He frantically began to claw at the air, screaming all the way down until he landed on the ground with a

sickening crunching noise.

"Owwwwwww!" he complained as he attempted to contemplate what had happened. Thankfully, the gryphon had been somewhat low to the ground, which had prevented him from breaking anything. Not that it was much comfort, seeing as The grass below him was a bright green, so Daniel assumed he had made it into the Highlands. He had no idea what had caused the sound or the gryphon's wild movements, nor did he want to stay and say hello to whatever did. All he wanted to do was get to camp.

He got back up as he checked to make sure that his rifle was still on his back. It was, along with the two axes at his waist. His ammunition was also still on him, though he had forgot to buy some back at Ironforge, and he only had a handful left. With a little luck,though, he should be able to make it to safety in one piece.

His hopes were dashed, however, as another loud noise reverberated in his ears. A second later, he was thrown into the air with the force of a boulder, landing a few yards away in a pile.

Quickly righting himself, he reached down to his waist and pulled his axes up.

Three angry raptors charged at him, closing in distance in a second.

Daniel, however, was ready for them, sidestepping the three and wrapping the neck of the nearest raptor in the inside of his elbow and yanking backwards with as much strength as he could muster.

It close lined the thing, knocking it on its back. Daniel followed up by planting his weight on top of the creature and forcing an ax down onto its neck. Something told him the other two wouldn't be as easy.

The raptors parted, heading in different directions and attempting to flank Daniel.

When he tried moving backwards to get them both into his field of vision, they both followed him.

Deciding that the one on his right looked smaller, he feigned an attack at it, but quickly turned around and ran up to the other. It came at him as well, baring its teeth and furiously swiping its claws. Daniel sidestepped again and slashed its midsection a few times before the creature returned with a connecting slice of its own, causing him to stagger backwards and nearly trip on a rock he stepped on.

The smaller raptor ran up to him from behind and slashed his back a good number of times, causing more pain-pain that quickly turned to anger. He spun around, not really caring what the larger raptor did to him, and raised his axes upwards. The smaller raptor begin to back away cautiously while slashing its talons at him. Again, a swipe connected with his shoulder, though Daniel didn't really care.

Taking a step forward, he brought the two axes down onto the the top of the creature's head, killing it instantly.

Withdrawing his axes and turning around, Daniel saw that the last raptor hadn't moved-surprising, but he wasn't complaining. He was just about to make his move when the creature whipped around and began to run away. Daniel however, was not going to let it get away that easily, and he quickly dropped his axes on to grass and plucked his rifle off his back.

Aiming was difficult due to his injured shoulder, and the pain that came with it certainly didn't help, but

Daniel managed to get his breathing under control enough to draw a bead on the fleeing creature as he

The rifle went off, but his shot went high and to the right. He kept looking at the creature through his scope, however, almost trying to force the rifle to reload itself. Not that it would have mattered if it had, as the raptor was almost out of his view and too far away to hit. He slowly lowered his rifle as the adrenaline rush he had disappeared in seconds, replaced by the familiar feeling of pain returning to him. Placing the rifle onto his back again, he bent down and picked his axes up before returning them to his waist as well. He began to limp towards what he hoped was the correct direction of the camp, fairly sure that he wouldn't bleed out before he got there. Still, it was best to get there as fast as possible. Bleeding typically wasn't a good thing.

**All right, I hope that you enjoyed the beginning. A few things to say... first one being that, obviously, our dear little Dan has not met miss troll yet. That will happen in the third chapter. Kind of late, I know. But he will. I promise. And stuff.**

**Another thing is that it might seem like Dan was a bit 'overpowered' in combat. That's related to the story, and will come up later. **

**All right, that's it. See you all when I get the next chapter up. Assuming that people will read this.**

**Mayhaps.**

**I'm just going to shut up and go now. Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay, chapter two. I was hoping that the first one would look a bit longer...apparently not.**

**This one is shorter I believe, but I still hope you enjoy it. **

**Again, any questions that you have you can post in a review. **

**Going to shut up now. Enjoy.**

The Highlands weren't very large, and Daniel hadn't landed too far from Refugee Point, but to him, it took an eternity to get to camp. The fact that his wounds (particularly the ones on his shoulder) were stinging like crazy didn't exactly help, but he supposed that what kept driving him on was the thought of medical supplies and whatnot.

Before long, however, he was approaching the entrance to the small gully that the Alliance in the area

called home.

"Ouch. You don't look so good, man." One of the sentries pointed out as he approached.

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Daniel mumbled.

Unsurprisingly, not much had changed since his last visit. Not that he cared. What he did care about was the medical supplies that he had stored a corner of the gulch.

Opening the crate with one arm and clutching his shoulder with the other, he examined its contents.

There was a good amount of bandages, but nothing else inside would be of much use. He didn't have anything to keep his wounds from becoming infected. He grabbed one of the rolls of white cloth and began to walk out of the gulch. Anyone else might have called him crazy, going out to "hunt" when he should probably be watching over his wounds.

He just called it mercy. The raptor would most likely survive, but Daniel didn't want the thing to suffer through it anyway. It was much faster and less painful that way. Besides, he could probably get a decent hide from it.

Walking out of the camp, he put the bandage in his mouth, took the rifle off of his back, and pulled the leather armor off of his chest. It stung quite a bit, and he swore that he could feel eyes burning a hole into his bare, bleeding back, but he payed no attention to either. He took the bandage out of his mouth and began to wrap it around his shoulder.

Though he wasn't a master of first aid, Daniel knew enough about it that he was confident he had done a fairly nice job a few minutes later as he slipped his armor over his bandaged upper body. Reaching for his ammunition, he remembered that he had forgotten to restock back at Refugee Point.

With a sigh, he began to jog towards where he remembered he had fought with the raptors.

A few minutes later, Daniel was kneeling over the corpse of one of the creatures he had slain, separating the skin from bone with little care for the hide. He couldn't spend enough time as he would like to skin the raptors, but he didn't really care. The hides alone wouldn't go for much anyway.

After collecting the hides from both raptors, he raised himself up from his kneeling position and was quickly able acquire the blood trail from the third creature.

Unfortunately, dark clouds were forming above the Highlands. Daniel noticed this, and remembered the one time when it had rained in the highlands when he was there. Well, it didn't rain-perhaps the better word would be _poured._ He had managed to flee to Refugee Point to find that the whole place was just muddy mess, and had stayed like so for a day or so more. He certainly did not need a storm right now.

In addition, the fact that he had to keep an eye on the sky and track the blood trail at the same time

prevented him from noticing that the trail was leading him farther to the north-eastern corner of the highlands.

Noticing that the amount of blood on the ground seemed to be increasing, Daniel began to follow the trail in a slow crouch and took the rifle off of his back again.

It was now becoming quite dark in the sky, though Daniel guessed that it wasn't just due to the possible storm. After all, he had spent a good amount of the day at Ironforge. It must have been pretty late.

Daniel stopped abruptly. The raptor wasn't very far from him. He guessed the range was about thirty-five yards or somewhere in that region. Daniel had made shots longer than that, but he didn't want to ruin his chance again, or, worse, have the thing come at him again. He decided to attempt to get a bit closer.

Slowly, Daniel lowered himself down into a prone position, with his face nearly touching the ground but perked up just enough so he could see.

The raptor wasn't giving him a very good shot, as it was almost facing him directly though slightly to the left. Fortunately for Daniel, it had its head down, either eating or sniffing something. Daniel couldn't tell. Didn't care. All he cared about was getting close to the thing.

He started to inch towards the raptor, literally only moving a few inches every few seconds. Still, he had spent a good amount of time tracking it, and he didn't want to blow his chance a second time.

Finally, he was within a comfortable range. Thankfully, there was almost no wind at all, and the raptor still made no indication that it had noticed him. Placing the rifle against his right shoulder and closing the opposite eye, he began to slow his breathing. Through the rifle's scope, Daniel could see the large slashing cuts that he had delivered to the raptor's side.

Deciding to attempt a head shot, Daniel maneuvered the tiny little dot inside of the crosshairs over the largest part of the creature's head.

Before long, the only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Crack!_

_Thump._

Daniel smiled to himself as the creature toppled over into a small pile and ceased to move.

Which was the last thing he did before intense pain struck him upside the head...and promptly made his vision start to blur before going black completely.

**All right, like I said, kind of short. Sorry about that. But Dan meets the troll in the next chapter.**

**So you must read that. Or else evil bunnies with red eyes will go under your bed and eat you.**

**I had a dream about that once. No joke. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I know it's been a long time since I updated, and I'm sorry. The word sorry takes care of everything, by the way, so you can't troll(no pun intended) me for not updating. Because that's how I roll. LIKE A BOSS. **

**Moving on...**

The first thing that Daniel became aware of was his throbbing headache. Which, he supposed, was a given considering that he had been knocked out. Or, at least, that's what he assumed was what happened. He never had actually got knocked out before.

The next he became aware of was...voices. He was too woozy to tell what they were saying, but it sounded like an argument to him. Their voices also seemed to be gaining in volume.

_Oh yeah, just gimme another friggin' migraine, why don't you? _He thought.

After waiting for a few moments, Daniel slowly cracked an eye open. His vision was far too blurry to see anything, but he could tell that where ever he was, it was someplace dark. A few more moments, and he was able to see with relative clarity.

Not that there was much to see. In a way, of course, that much was good.

Daniel did a quick scan of the area. The room wasn't very big-he estimated around fifteen by fifteen feet or so. At the end of the room were cell bars running from the bottom of the room to the ceiling, which was about ten feet high. Beyond the bars was a closed wooden door as well as a table and a small side room. There was also a grid of metal bars a good height off of the floor, but not quite touching the ceiling.

Daniel's eyes widened a bit as he focused his gaze onto what he assumed was his gear laying on the table. Most of it, anyway-he was pretty sure he still had his leather pants and boots on.

Daniel then attempted to move his hands, only to find that they were bound together with what he assumed was rope. He attempted the same thing with his feet to find that he was also bound at the ankles.

He could tell that the voices were coming from the side room, but he still could not understand them.

Daniel soon realized, however, that it wasn't due to his wooziness-they were talking in a language other than common, and it didn't sound like any of the languages used by the races of the Alliance. Which left him with many possibilities, to be sure, but the most likely of them was also the least appealing.

Of course, that was that he had been captured by the Horde.

Daniel smiled to himself as he slowly reached down to the heel of his boot. He _really_ hoped that they hadn't checked him for other weapons besides his rifle and axes. That would put a damper on his day, for sure.

His smile widened as he wiggled the knife out of his boot heel.

_And that's why you always carry a knife._

He began to whittle away at the rope binding his feet together. His luck paid off, as he was able to cut the rope within a short period of time despite his hands being bound as well.

He then turned the knife around into an awkward-looking grip, attempting to cut the rope on his wrists.

It was a lot harder, probably due to the fact that he had nearly slit his own wrist once but he certainly wasn't going to give up just for a minor setback.

"I don't care what you think about him! It's obvious that he's a spy, and you're just suggesting that we let him leave without a scratch?"

"For dee last damn time, he is NOT a spy, mon! You heard what dee guards said, he was just hunting dat raptor! He wasn't even near dis place!" Katriana said angrily, attempting to drive some sense into the Forsaken standing before her.

"How do you know that him hunting that raptor wasn't just a cover for him to get close to Hammerfall?" The Forsaken replied in his normal, raspy voice.

"I just...do, okay, mon?"

"No, that's not okay. I am going to interrogate him. You cannot stop me."

Katriana hung her head as the Forsaken walked out of the side room and into the one with Daniel in it.

She knew that the human meant no harm, something told her that. Obviously, the Forsaken did not have

the same feelings as she did, and she didn't want the human to be tortured for what was just a simple mistake on his part.

Still, she couldn't help him. Well, at least not in any acceptable way. And with that, she sighed and left the building.

"Oh, look, the meat is awake."

The Forsaken smiled at the human who was staring at him, already scheming about what he would do to "extract" any information that the human might have in his head.

_Oh yes, I am going to enjoy this. I am going to enjoy this a LOT, _the Forsaken thought as he moved closer to the human.

"Before you start your little interrogation, I do have to thank you for two things." Daniel replied with what the Forsaken assumed was a fake smile.

"The first of which being the fact that you left my pants on. I guess that's a start, right?" He began.

"A start for what, meat?" The Forsaken replied, amused at the human.

"For sparing me the embarrassment of having them off once I escape."

The Forsaken couldn't help but smile at how pathetic he thought the human's words were.

"And the second thing you must thank me for?"

The human held his hands up in front of him, his already idiotic grin turning even more so.

"For using rope, and not iron."

The Forsaken only had a split second to think about what the "meat" meant before Daniel somehow managed to break the rope apart in the blink of an eye. He then stood up, grabbed the back of the Forsaken's head...and promptly smashed it into the wall next to him.

It didn't knock him out, and Daniel wondered it the Forsaken could even _be _knocked out, but Daniel promptly grabbed him by the collar of his armor and brought the former human's head down onto his knee-_hard._

Daniel heard something crack as the Forsaken fell over backwards, clutching at its face.

The human decided to leave the thing alone, and made his way over to the table where his gear was laid

out.

After pulling on his chest armor, throwing the strapped rifle over his shoulder, and hooking his axes on to his belt, Daniel made a mad dash for the door that he had seen the troll leave through shortly after the Forsaken had walked in. He was a good distance away from it, however, when the door flew open on its own, and a female orc loomed in the doorway.

Daniel, however, didn't slow down. If anything, he just ran faster, trying to close the distance before she realized what was happening.

At about two feet away from her, Daniel jumped up, grabbed onto one of the bars above him, and quickly swung his feet into the orc's face, knocking her onto her back.

Daniel quickly ran over her, the remaining daylight blinding him for a moment before he regained his composure.

The sky had darkened even more, almost to the point where he thought it was night.

He had seen Hammerfall before from the outside, and knew that it was lined with a wall of spiked wooden logs, with guards near the entrance. He also knew that it wouldn't matter how fast he ran if he went out the main entrance-they guards would cut him down one way or another.

And so his only hope was that the building he was previously detained in was not near the entrance.

If it was, then he was screwed, which he did not deny.

Still, he had to try. Spotting a couple of crates stacked against the wooden wall a good distance away, he again made an all-out dash for it. The only problem was, someone was in the way.

Katriana was only about fifteen feet or so away from the building she had just left when Daniel came bursting out of the door, his feet colliding with the orc's face.

She barely even had time to react when the human came bolting towards her. She was wrong about the human. He had a bloodlust as deep as all of the others.

Instinctively, the hunter reached for the dagger on her belt. Daniel only had enough time to widen his eyes and throw up his hands before Katriana delivered a deep slash to his already wounded shoulder.

Daniel cringed and stopped his dash for the wall, grasping his shoulder with the other hand.

Katriana wanted to attack him again, but didn't have the chance to do so as he rolled underneath her arm.

She expected him to kill her. At the very least, attack her. But all she got was a soft whisper that reverberated in her ears.

"I wasn't trying...to hurt you."

She spun around, expecting to find death ready for her in one way or another. However, again she was wrong as all she was rewarded was a brief glimpse of Daniel's back as he finished his dash to the crates and promptly used them to hurl himself over the wall, all the while still holding his injured shoulder.

Katriana _had _understood his words, as she did know some Common, but she was still confused.

Though, apparently, she was right after all; he didn't wanted to kill her.

With blood pouring from his shoulder and his head still throbbing, Daniel hit the ground with a hard _thump. _

Part one of his escape plan was complete-escaping. Now for part two-more escaping.

Daniel still didn't know what had caused him to whisper into the troll's ear. The not killing her part, he could understand-he was pretty sure that she was arguing with the Forsaken to let him go(though he wasn't sure), and while she had attacked him, he understood that she was just acting on reflex. Still, what he did he didn't make perfect sense. He didn't even know if she had understood him.

Shoving the thoughts somewhere else into his brain for the time being, Daniel proceeded to run as fast as his legs could carry him towards the few trees that were near Hammerfall. He wondered what he would do when he got there; the Horde would probably track him and find him if he tried to hide, and there was no way he could outrun them if they were on mounts.

_Congratulations, Dan, you managed to escape from your little prison only so you could be caught five _

_seconds later!_

Daniel shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that.

_Bad Dan._

He stopped and turned around as he reached a small grove of trees, hoping that he wouldn't see the Horde chasing him.

There were, unfortunately, several mounted guards at the gate that were facing him, almost like they were waiting for something.

Another mounted orc guard came out. Daniel guessed it was the leader as he had an elaborate metal helmet as well as armor, and it seemed that he was yelling orders to the others near him.

Just as they readied their weapons and prepared to chase him, a loud clap of thunder made Daniel jump a bit.

The leader of the guards said something that Daniel couldn't understand, but the others didn't seem too happy with it as they turned around and began to argue with their leader.

Not wanting to stick around and listen, Daniel resumed his dash towards Refugee Point.

Clearly, there _was _going to be a storm, which caused Daniel to wonder if that was what had caused the leader to call off the guards. Or, at least, Daniel assumed that was what he did. He didn't understand orcish.

After about a solid few minutes of running, Daniel was gasping for breath. He had no clue where he was, he had already begun to feel a light rain dropping onto his shoulders, he could hardly see what was in front of him, and the amount of blood draining from his shoulder was not helping him to find his bearings.

Sitting down against a nearby tree, Daniel quickly stripped out of his leather top. The wound was quite deep, and he knew that he probably wouldn't make it back to Refugee Point unless he re-bandaged it.

_And I was too stupid to grab any more bandages._

Daniel looked down at the leather top that he had taken off. It was far too stiff to be used as a bandage, and the same could be said for his pants.

He sighed as a fresh gust of wind hit his bare chest.

**Okay, there you go. Again, I apologize for not updating quickly. _Sorry. _**

**Yeah. That's pretty much it. See you.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Boo. It's me again. Oh, and thanks, Fuzzy Teeth, for reading so far. As you wanted, another chapter. **

**Here we go...**

_Stuck out in the middle of the Highlands, during the night, with a wounded shoulder and possibly a Horde patrol out to get me. Oh, and there's probably going to be a storm soon._

_Yeah, that's about how lucky I am..._

Daniel looked up at the sky, feeling a slight tap on his face. He wiped the small drop of water off of his forehead and frowned. There wasn't much he could do-attempt to make it to Refugee Point and possibly bleed to death or get lost on the way there, or stay where he was and attempt to control the bleeding. Either option was not very appealing to him at the moment.

He looked up at the sky again, set his rifle beside him, and sighed.

Katriana looked down at the blood trail on the ground that was leading away from Hammerfall.

….and she still had no clue why she was doing so.

When she found him, what was she going to do?

_Oh, hello. I know that I slashed a huge chunk out of your shoulder and that I'm supposed to be lopping your head off right now, but I just decided to follow you and try to heal you. You're okay with that, right?_

Her cheetah, whom Katriana had named Solina, was beside the troll, sniffing the air curiously for anything that could pose a threat. Katriana had retrieved her from the stable master in Hammerfall before she set off to find the human that she had injured.

Katriana noticed that the blood trail was becoming thicker, and responded by slowing her pace and lowering herself into a crouch. She could barely even see the blood below her anymore, and she knew that the rain tapping her shoulders could turn into a downpour. However, Solina didn't seem affected in the slightest, as her sense of smell was helping her to navigate in the darkness. Katriana took it as a good sign, assuming that the human was somewhere nearby. Or a raptor or something else that would not like to see her.

Daniel hadn't heard her coming, so it was a surprise to him when the troll had come around the tree into his view. He took his hand off of his shoulder and tried to grab his rifle, but she, apparently, was faster than him and had put a foot on it before he could lift it up. She quickly slid it behind her and withdrew a crossbow from her back and proceeded to aim it straight at his face. A large yellow leopard sat down next to her master and proceeded to gently nudge the troll's leg with her nose.

Daniel had absolutely no clue what to do, as he had hoped that the huntress would not come after him once he had left. He returned his hand to his shoulder slowly, while raising his blue eyes to meet the troll's brown.

"Hi. Again." He said plainly.

"...hello, mon." The troll responded, her voice thick with her species' accent.

"Sooo...I'm guessing you're here to kill me or something?"

"...Erm...no.." The troll said, lowering her crossbow slightly. At the very least, it wasn't aiming at his face anymore.

"Then, what?" The human asked, puzzled.

"I, ahh...I came to help you, mon." The troll said.

Daniel just sat there, the lost look on his face becoming more evident.

"Like...with this?" He asked, raising his bloody hand up from his shoulder for a moment before setting it back down.

"...yes."

"Even though you were the one that delivered it in the first place?"

_Like I thought. He probably thinks I'm insane or something._

"...Erm...yes..." She said, setting her crossbow down (and silently praying that he wouldn't try to kill her when she did) and reaching into a pouch on her waist. Daniel watched with curiosity as she withdrew a small vial filled with a red liquid that he recognized as a healing mixture. Ironically, it was almost the exact same color as his blood.

Katriana went over to his other side, uncorked the vial, and was about to pour it onto his shoulder when Daniel held up a hand.

"...I can do it myself." He stated simply. She looked at him for a moment before offering the vial, which he gladly took and emptied it onto his shoulder. He watched as the wound from the troll and the ones from the raptors disappeared.

The troll then walked over to his rifle and gave it back to him, again hoping that he wouldn't shoot her in the back when she wasn't facing him.

"...thanks. For, you know, probably saving my life. And...stuff." Daniel said dumbly.

"...you're, erm...you're welcome, mon." Katriana responded, and began to walk away before turning around a few seconds later.

"Oh, and, umm...one more ting, if it's okay with you, mon."

Daniel looked over his shoulder after slipping his chest armor back on again.

"What is it?"

Katriana looked down at the ground for a moment, hoping that she wouldn't offend him somehow.

"What's your name, mon?"

Though he wasn't exactly certain that it was the best idea to to tell her, he felt obliged to do so. She _had _

helped him, after all.

"...Daniel."

Katriana looked at him for a few more seconds. What was going through her mind, the human had no clue, but he didn't spend any time to think about it, walking over to his rifle and picking it up.

The troll then turned back towards Hammerfall and walked away.

Daniel was still confused why she had helped him (as was she), but he was glad nonetheless. Not that he would show it, of course, given the fact that he was healed by someone who was supposed to kill him.

More taps on his shoulders. The troll may have saved his life, but he still had to make it back to Refugee Point. He had a general idea of which way to go- the opposite way from Hammerfall.

Pushing himself out of the grove of trees and into the pouring rain, he began his return back to Refugee Point.

**Yeah, kind of short like the second chapter, but it's the first time the two make civilized conversation, so I guess it's important. See you next chapter! Bye.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Just getting from one place to another in this chapter, I guess.**

**Again, thanks Fuzzy Teeth, for reviewing. You are an awesum possum. And a thanks to all the other people that reviewed. I'm running out of stuff to fill these beginning/end segments with, so I'll just go on with the story.**

When Daniel made it to Refugee Point at least an hour later, Captain Niles could tell that the hunter was absolutely miserable. His leather armor was the definition of the word soaked, he had a depressed look on his face, and the wounds he sustained (besides the worst one on his shoulder that the troll had healed) were most likely stinging like hell. When it started to rain, the captain had immediately called her troops down to the bottom of the gully where they had set up tents to keep themselves dry. Daniel was originally going to take a gryphon back to Ironforge, but Niles had insisted that he stay in Arathi, saying that the rain would keep coming on the trip there, and that going into Dun Morough with rain-soaked clothes was not a good idea, considering how cold it was there.

Daniel would have definitely preferred an inn in Ironforge, but he was too tired to argue with her, and eventually just sat himself down against a barrel under one of the tents. It didn't matter that he was soaked, freezing, and in pain; he still slept like a baby.

Katriana, on the other hand, was not as fortunate as Daniel. The two had not had their encounter far from Hammerfall, and she made it to the small town much faster than the human did to Refugee Point.

However, she found it impossible to go to sleep, the recent events keeping her awake.

Turning face-up in her bed, she closed her eyes and began to mentally pick apart the events of the past few hours. She soon discovered that do so did not help her temporary case of insomnia. Solina chose that moment to jump up onto the bed and curl next to her master.

Sighing, Katriana sat up and began to scratch the leopard behind her ears. Solina soon began to purr softly before she fell asleep. Katriana couldn't help but smile at the ball of fur curled up at her feet, wishing that she could fall asleep as fast as the leopard.

She heaved another sigh, gently rested her head on Solina, and managed to find sleep.

Daniel may have slept nicely, though he did not feel as well when he woke up. Of course, considering the fact that he had used a barrel for a pillow, that was to be expected. His clothes were still wet, and he knew that the wounds he sustained wouldn't disappear overnight.

He cracked his eyes open a bit, the light blinding him momentarily. He ignored it, stretching his arms out then placing an arm on the barrel to help himself up. Once he was fully awake, he saw that the

soldiers were mostly still clustered under the tents due to the fact that the rest of the highlands were most likely a mess of mud.

"Sleep well?" Daniel looked behind him to find Niles there, standing with her arms crossed. He didn't really know why Niles was always so interested in his well being-or, at least, more so than any other random person who walked through Refugee Point, excluding her own soldiers. He just liked to think that there was a chance she liked him. It was actually a somewhat likely possibility, but he didn't think about it much.

"Good enough, all things considered." Daniel responded. Niles raised an eyebrow as if she suspected something, though if that was the case, she didn't say anything about it. She just nodded and began to walk away.

After stretching himself out a bit more, Daniel collected his things and decided what to do.

"Hey, Captain?" He asked to her retreating back.

Niles turned around, a hopeful look plastered onto her face.

"Hmmm?"

"Got any more work?"

Nile's face fell a bit as he spoke, but she answered his question nonetheless.

"Personally, no. But I think that guy over there-"-she gestured to someone else in the camp-"- said that he needed furs or hides or something." She said.

Daniel nodded in response.

"Thanks, Captain."

Katriana hadn't slept for as long as she had hoped she would, and she was still rather drowsy when she woke up. Solina, however, did not want to do so. She still was curled up in a ball, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Katriana had woke up. The troll to herself as she gently tapped the leopard's head a few times with her finger.

"Solina...you gotta wake up, mon..." Solina's ear twitched a bit. Katriana sighed as she stopped tapping on the leopard's head, got up off of the bed, and began to collect her things. By the time she had finished, Solina had already jumped down from-or, perhaps a better term, _ fell _down from-the bed.

Katriana hadn't thought of anything to do yet, so she decided to ask around for work in Hammerfall. There was almost always someone who wanted something done in the small town, and Katriana found work quickly, in the form of a tauren who wanted some of the herb Goldthorn. And, while she wasn't the best at identifying herbs (she spent most of her time either out 'in the field' or in Orgrimmar, blacksmithing), she still had rough idea of what it looked like- Goldish in color, and quite thorny. Big surprise there.

The merchant that Niles had pointed to had requested twenty raptor hides-an unusually high number, in Daniel's opinion, but he didn't care. A job meant money to him, and his recent 'failure' at Ironforge had left him without much money. So, he had set out to find some hides, silently praying that he wouldn't end up like he had the day before.

**Alright, so, again, this chapter isn't much in the way of story progression, but I wanted to get a chapter out for you guys so you would know I'm not dead. Yet.**

**Anyway, I think that I'm going to try something else for my next update: I want to start a Halo/Warcraft crossover. I'll go over the details in there, but my reason for doing this is because I'm running out of ideas for _this _story, and I need some time to think of stuff to add to it. So, yeah, just saying.**


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